I earn more writing novels than short stories — and you probably will too — For several years now, I’ve been earning the majority of my income by writing fiction under a variety of pen names you’ve never heard of. And it isn’t anything special about me. Thousands of authors you’ve never heard of are quietly making a full-time living creating fiction. True, thousands of…

The mysteries behind winning bigger bonuses — Ah, the mysteries of Amazon. At the end of December, I celebrated a full year of my Kindle Vella experiment. And, as of January 20, we have been awarded our December bonuses — allowing me to dive into the numbers to report on what we can all do to collect…

If Karen bit six deputies, don’t run a picture of Barbie — If you don’t know the laws surrounding the use of models in online reporting, don’t use photographs of human models in online reporting. You don’t know how, and you’re going to get yourself sued. I’ve already said this before, but — looking at my feed this morning — looks like…

A mysterious blue crystal to elevate your mood — One of the pleasures of wandering into dusty shops in obscure places is the joy of discovery. We met this mysterious cluster made up of sky-blue crystals shaped like blades in one such shop. It was a November in New Mexico almost twenty years ago. The mountain was covered in…

I would like to propose a theme song — Dear Terrible Algo Who Forgot What Century It Is: I was already alive when “Jagged Little Pill” was released in a previous century that is not this one. I’m sure Alanis Morisette is a very nice lady, but I don’t need to find a story at the top of my…

A restricted stone we cut and polished while holding our breath — Around 1990, hubby and I backed up the truck to a very large collection of mixed cutting rough from an estate. All sorts of unsorted Agates from all over the world were tossed together higgledy-piggledy. Among them were several nodules that we identified as Botswana Agate. Interesting. As far as…

Meanwhile, Amazon Ads Keep Quietly Selling My Books — One of the first stories I wrote when I joined Medium was a case study on Amazon Ads. I’m not gonna lie. I’m a believer. Let’s say you’re an unknown writer with a self-published book who doesn’t have a platform with an established following. Let’s see if you can guess…

Oh, yeah, buddy? Well, here’s what I learned — I’m paraphrasing the headline of the story I got served this morning on a platform near you. I didn’t read it, and you shouldn’t either, so why make it easy to Google? But I’ve got a whole lot to say about his clickbait headline. The author’s name? Doesn’t matter. He…

When Almost Was Good Enough — When I look back and remember that there were actual times and places when I was paid to take photographs, I have to crack up laughing. My adventures in photography are far outside the norm. Before I take the “This or That Challenge,” I’d better set the scene. My earliest…